Carnival Miracle 1/24/2009 Part 1featured
It’s kind of funny how this cruise came to be. A few weeks before Stephanie graduated college, mom and I were driving down to pick up some of her stuff so she’d have less to move when she moved out. It started snowing on the way home and while mom and I were talking about our May cruise, I (half) jokingly said I wanted to get away and go to Disney World for the 4-for-3 promotion.
Now, you should know that when she gives me any hint of wanting to go on a trip, I go ahead and plan it. I price everything out and give her all of our options. Most of the time, she laughs and nothing comes of it. But this time, we were really thinking of going to Disney World. There was really limited availability, so we were going to go in February. But while we were pricing it out, I was talking to Stephanie and she pointed out how much cheaper a cruise would be. So we decided to go on a cruise.
We took a few days to look into all of the itineraries. We knew we probably wanted to go on another Carnival cruise, but we looked into Royal Caribbean, too (for curiosity’s sake…I don’t really have any desire to go on RCL until the Oasis of the Seas comes out). We ultimately decided on the Carnival Miracle out of Fort Lauderdale on January 24 because it went to St. Maarten, one of our favorite ports, but also two ports we’ve never been to before: St. Kitts and St. Lucia.
We called up our PVP, Robert (who is absolutely fantastic) and he was really helpful in pricing out some options. We used to travel exclusively in suites, but before we went on the Liberty, we started traveling in two cabins (usually a balcony for me and Stephanie and an interior for mom and grandma, because neither of them care for the balcony). In the past year, grandma has begun needing a handicapped cabin and it takes a lot of planning to get us either next to each other or a few doors away. Robert found us two obstructed ocean view rooms on deck 4, which is the lowest we’ve ever stayed. I was unsure if I’d enjoy a cruise without a balcony. I really enjoy ending my days with a glass of wine on the balcony. But it was a last-minute semi-budget trip and we had the two biggest balcony rooms booked for our May cruise, so I wasn’t one to complain.
We booked less than 50 days out, which didn’t leave us a lot of time to make plans. I immediately found the code I had used to rent a car for our trip last August and booked us an SUV through Alamo for around $400 for 13 days, and then I booked our hotels. For pre-cruise stays that aren’t for extended periods of time, I book through Priceline. We stop in Buckhead (in Atlanta) on the way down for the night, so I got us a room at the Westin Buckhead for around $115 and a room at the Renaissance in Plantation for $90. When we called to confirm, the people at the Renaissance were very nice and accommodating (Priceline does not guarantee two beds, so you have to call and request them), but the person at the Westin was quite standoffish, refusing to note the request. We called again a few days later and got a really nice man on the phone who noted our request.
In the midst of our excitement and planning, we got an email that the ship was having some problems and our day in St. Lucia would be replaced with a day in Grand Turk. This almost devastated mom, who was looking forward to St. Lucia more than anything else (and made her rethink our May cruise since that would be going to Grand Turk…on the same ship). We were getting $50/cabin in OBC. It was upsetting, but then again, a month and a half before, we were planning on a day at home in Chicago in the severe negatives with lots of snow.
On the Wednesday before the cruise, we picked up the car and packed it up. We went out to dinner at Portillos and headed home to try to get some sleep (not much for me…American Idol was on). We left around 1:00am on Thursday. I think on our next drive, we’ll leave later. It’s so much harder to drive in the dark and stay awake and totally alert.
I started the driving and drove us into Indiana, before mom took over. Stephanie took over a few hours later while I slept (very lightly…I woke up to her and mom singing “The Way We Were!” That’s how we stay awake while driving…we sing). We had breakfast at a McDonalds in Kentucky right before sunrise. Things got a little better when the sun came up. We quickly got through Kentucky and were in Tennessee.
I love driving through the Tennessee mountains. Mom hates it. The elevation changes aren’t pleasant, but the mountains and the water is so beautiful. We were thankful that there was no rain (we got stuck in a rainstorm driving through Tennessee a few years ago and it was very scary not seeing much).
There’s a Stuckey’s that we ALWAYS stop at when we’re driving down that way, so we stopped to grab some drinks and a few pecan logs.
The exciting thing about stopping at Stuckey’s is that from there, we know we aren’t far. A few hours later, we were pulling into our hotel in Buckhead. We like staying in Buckhead because it kind of reminds us of home (the north shore of Chicago). It’s a very nice area, and we’re familiar with it from previous visits. We quickly checked in and spent a few hours resting. The hotel was pretty nice (not as nice as the Intercontinental up the street where we stayed last time, but nice enough). I hate staying in most hotels because I always feel they aren’t as clean as they seem and I’m a germaphobe. There were some pet stains in the hallways at the Westin, but otherwise it was well-kept. There was even a speaker in the bathroom that was somehow hooked up to the TV so you could listen to the news as you were brushing your teeth!
The Westin Buckhead
We were next door to the Lenox Square Mall, so we stopped in for some lunch in the food court and to stop at Lush (my favorite bath and body store) for some soaps and shower stuff for the cruise. We then went to Target and Publix for snacks and last-minute things we forgot (like shampoo for me) and to get some boxed wine for the cruise (easier to carry on). The wine at Publix was expensive for boxed wine (who wants to pay $20 for Franzia? Seriously!) so I decided to wait until Fort Lauderdale to buy some wine. We were going to go to Maggianos for dinner, but we were too tired so we got takeout from Maggianos and watched Ugly Betty and Gray’s Anatomy in the hotel and crashed early.
We woke up around 7:00am the next morning for the last 10 hours of our drive. We stopped for a quick breakfast at Corner Bakery and were soon on our way to Florida!
Not long after we left, we were approaching another favorite stop: Lane’s Packing Company! A few years ago, we drove to Tampa for a cruise and the entire way there, mom wanted to stop at a peach farm, but since we were driving straight through from Chicago, there was no time. From then until the next time we drove to Florida (last August), she kept telling us how much she wanted to visit a peach farm. So when we went in August, we saw a sign for Lane’s Packing Company, we stopped. It was one of the nicest, local farms with delicious food and fresh, ripe peaches and home made peach ice cream. Peaches weren’t in season this time, so we got some snacks and such and sampled some Honey Bells, hoping to come back on the way home to get some dips and ciders.
Lane’s Packing Company
Mom and the Giant Peach
The drive to Fort Lauderdale was long and tedious. We stopped at a few rest stops to stretch our legs and grab snacks. I was getting really hungry as we were approaching Fort Lauderdale around 6pm (I wasn’t lying…it was a long drive!). I started looking on my iPhone for local BBQ joints and found a place called Smokey Bones not far from our hotel in Plantation. We checked into the Renaissance Plantation, which was very nice and very clean (and got the Nicole seal for cleanliness), got changed and headed to Smokey Bones.
Smokey Bones was a cool joint. It reminded me a bit of a mix between Carson’s Ribs and Buffalo Wild Wings. It was Friday night and it was PACKED. There was an hour wait. I chose to wait outside because it was almost 70 degrees, but felt like 80 to my Chicago weatherproofed skin! I called my best friend to gloat about the warm weather and to get the 411 on what was happening at home. Mom and Stephanie (who hates when I talk on the phone in public) waited inside, where I guess they passed around samples of appetizers. We were seated in about 45 minutes. The food (the only time I don’t have food pics!) was really good. We had an appetizer of potato skins, Stephanie had ribs, mom split a rib and chicken combo with grandma, and I had a flat iron steak in this really delicious burgundy mushroom sauce. It really hit the spot after such a long day!
After dinner, we went looking for a Publix or Winn Dixie to buy wine. We ended up going to two stores and I ended up with three boxes of wine. We went back to the hotel to get ready to get on the boat the next day. I decided to repack. I guess I should tell you now that you will never find anyone who packs more than I do. I guarantee it. I like to have options. Mom thinks I’m crazy. I pack more for a cruise than most people have in their entire wardrobes. I buy clothes for cruises that I never wear after a cruise and end up in old suitcases in our basement. I’m bad. Driving left us with less room for suitcases, so I was stuck with a rolling duffel, a small suitcase, a Kate Spade baby bag that used to be my book bag in college and a Carnival duffle bag that I shared with Stephanie. Shoes went in the small suitcase with hair stylers and a box of the wine (and some of Stephanie’s Peach Schnapps to mix for some sangria because they don’t sell sangria on the boat and it’s my favorite drink). The other two bags were clothes packed in travel space savers and my Kate Spade bag had all of my makeup and toiletries and camera and camcorder stuff. Well, one of my space savers burst when I was re-rolling it. Ack!
I didn’t sleep well because I was so excited for getting on the boat the next day.
**This was really long…the rest of the review will be much better and have more pictures!
Up next: Embarkation and Day 1 on the Carnival Miracle!
